In the immediate aftermath of last year’s Budget, I wrote that the underlying motif of Budget 2022 was one of incrementalism. It was in keeping with the political and economic philosophy of both Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath; a worldview that steady, non-spectacular improvements to the general standard of life are sustainable, and preferable, in the long term. This year, however, both the Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform knew that moderate incrementalism would never be enough. The cost-of-living crisis, allied with a surge in support for Sinn Féin and a booming, yet largely unexplained, surge…

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